Smiths City sells Colombo Street store, leases it back

Smiths City today confirmed it has sold its Colombo Street store but a new lease agreement means it isn't shifting from its historic base.

Following the closure of two of its four Powerstore sites (Timaru and Stafford St as reported here), Smiths City Chief Executive Officer, Roy Campbell, today confirmed the conditional sale of the Colombo Street store and that it had entered into a lease agreement with the new owner which means the store will remain where it is.

The sale price is $20 million plus GST. With regard to the lease the rental is $1.409 million per annum plus GST and outgoings. The initial term is for 12 years with two further rights of renewal of six years each.

The 550 Colombo Street site has been central to the story of Smiths City for almost 100 years, since Henry Cooper Smith (“HC”) bought the place in 1918 and turned it into an auction house. The rest as they say is history.

You can read the Smiths City story here in our Retail Icon series, along with the very emotional tale of how the Colombo Street store rose from the ruins after the 2011 earthquake.